GEAR TEST; For Sure-Footed Posing

By SARAH BOWEN SHEA

Published: December 17, 2009

NO matter how much you love yoga, taking a yoga mat on a trip may seem a little over the top. Yet, either for traction or hygiene, many people prefer to have something between their feet and the surface where they're practicing, especially if it's a hotel room floor or a borrowed mat at a studio. The solution may be a pair of yoga socks.

These are low-cut socks, often in eye-catching colors, with sticky dots or patches on the soles for sure footing. Most of them have glovelike pouches for each toe, so wearers can spread their toes for balance and connection to the ground. Some pairs are cut to expose the tips of the toes, to give increased tactile sensation during, say, the tree pose and the triangle.

Some yoga enthusiasts prefer socks to a mat, saying they gain freedom of movement. ''Instead of staying within the rectangular confines of a yoga mat, socks can allow a person to spread out and find ease in a pose,'' said Kasey Luber, the director of Yogamates.com, an online resource for yogis.

Yoga socks are far from perfect. Kira Ryder, left, who owns Lulu Bandha's yoga studio in Ojai, Calif., and teaches there, normally practices standing and balancing postures directly on a wood floor, even in her own studio. She tested five pairs of yoga socks and found herself slipping consistently. ''There are major design and technical flaws in almost all of them,'' she concluded. SARAH BOWEN SHEA

PHOTOS: CRESCENT MOON BAMBOO EXERSOCK: $29.99 for three pairs, www .crescentmoonyoga.com. The only socks with a rounded pocket for all the toes, rather than five individual slots, these were ''possibly a good entry route'' for sticky yoga socks, Ms. Ryder said. The socks, above, which are low cut and 90 percent bamboo, were the ''coziest and thickest'' and provided ''comfortable ankle padding'' in seated postures, she said. But they were also the warmest among the socks tested, at times too hot. Worse, she said, ''The nubs came off in the first use on the ball of the foot near the big toe.''; TOESOX HALF-TOE SOCKS WITH GRIPS: $15 a pair, www.toesox.com. These cotton socks, left, leave the ends of toes exposed, which Ms. Ryder liked. ''It was easy to wiggle and grab my toes in standing balancing postures,'' she said. But she was disappointed by how much ''the material slid, pulling all the nubs away from the edge of the foot where they are needed most.'' Due to the slippage, she had to grip her inner thigh ''like crazy'' to avoid sliding in the triangle and warrior 2 poses.; GAIAM NO SLIP YOGA SOCKS: $19.98 for two pairs, www.gaiam.com. While the Gaiam socks, above, were the only ones with rubber gripping dots on the toes, they did not have enough on the balls of the feet to suit Ms. Ryder. ''The ball of the foot is vital for gripping,'' she said, ''I stepped back into a lunge and, whoosh, almost went into a full split.'' In her experience, these mostly cotton socks ''had more fabric around the toes'' than the ToeSox or Injinji socks, making them ''feel bunched up in between the toes.''; INJINJI YOGA TOESOCKS: $16 a pair, www.injinjistore.com. These socks, above, made primarily of bamboo, were ''the lightest, most breathable and least hot'' of all those tested, Ms. Ryder said. Made by a company that specializes in athletic toe socks, the Injinjis offered ''the best fit around the toes'' and caused ''no tugging pain,'' unlike all the other socks. On the down side, Ms. Ryder said, the Injinji socks felt thinner to her than the others, and she missed the ''positive ankle padding'' the other socks provided in seated postures.; YOGA STICK-E SOCKS: $19.95 a pair, www.yogastickysocks.com. These ''soft and light'' socks have half-toes, making them ''easy to pull on,'' Ms. Ryder said. To grip the floor, the socks have solid patches of blue sticky material, which ''became an obstacle unless it was in exactly the right place on the foot,'' she said. She ''needed to bunch the socks'' to get the patches in the right place to avoid slipping. Available in black and beige, the latter ''looked like an Ace bandage'' on her feet, Ms. Ryder said. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY KARI HUNT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)